MA Seminar

MA thesis analysis – avoiding mistakes

Magdalena Szyszka, PhD
Outline
• Online correcting system
• Structural mistakes
• Content mistakes
• Academic discourse mistakes
• Others
Correction system
Corrections
Examples of comments
Structural mistakes

Formal requirements of the thesis

1. Length
2. Composition
3. Formatting
Formal requirements of the thesis: length
How many pages for
• Introduction
• Chapter One
• Chapter Two
• Chapter Three
• Conclusion

Note! Each section should be longer than a page!

Formal requirements of the thesis: length
Too short or too long paragraphs, e.g.

Language anxiety is a complex construct. MacIntyre (1995) claims

that anxiety can be influenced by aptitude, performance can be
influenced by anxiety and anxiety can be influenced by
performance as well .
My comment: Develop this paragraph. Provide an example of how
you understand this statement.
Formal requirements of the
thesis: composition
• Use the TEMPLATE (it has all the
necessary settings).
• Balance the content of the theoretical and
empirical parts.
• Include organisational paragraphs.
• References – at least 30 items.
• Use maximum three quotes per page.
Formal requirements of the thesis: formatting
• Included in the TEMPLATE
• 12 Times New Roman
• line spacing 1.5
• margin settings 2.5 cm
• no gap space before/after a line and between paragraphs
• page numbers - at the bottom middle of each page
• do not include pagination on title page, contents pages, list of figures, tables and anti-
plagiarism statement
• do not leave blank pages
• figures or tables that are not author’s own work should be referred to the original
source, e.g. (from Horwitz et al., 1986, p. 77)
• every Chapter should start with a new page.
Content mistakes – a task

Make your own list of 3 content mistakes (5 minutes)

Content mistakes
• Unstated or unclear aim of the thesis.
• There are no logical ’bridges’ between sections or chapters.
• The content of a section does not reflect the title of the
section.
• The ideas are not developed, e.g. the definition is quoted but
not discussed at all.
• Irrelevant content, e.g. in the review of research
•…
Academic discourse mistakes
• What do you mean by discourse mistakes?
• List at least three examples.

5 minutes
Academic discourse mistakes
• Level of formality, e.g.

…Sivan (1986) pointed out  that…

Phrasal verbs are informal.

Academic discourse mistakes
• Level of personalisation, e.g.

In this article, we distinguish between more general ….

Academic discourse mistakes
• Wrong structure, e.g.

… Further reasons of language anxiety are indicated by

Bailey (1980) as being tested and having a certain
relation with tutors.  
Academic discourse mistakes
• Lack of references, e.g.

… Throughout the years many studies have been

conducted in order to better understand the
phenomenon of motivation.
… People are judged mainly through assessment
of their personality.   
Academic discourse mistakes
• Lack of clarity, e.g.

… According to Michońska-Stadnik (2008), cognitivists believe

that motivation reflects human's thought processes, attitude,
opinion and interpretation of given ideas which are then
turned into motion.  
Academic discourse mistakes
• Unfinished paragraph, e.g.

… Deci et al. (1991) argued that human's nature is reflected in

activities extrinsically motivated. People are willing to act and
behave in a certain way when there is something they can gain
from. Such actions can be divided into two categories, namely
controlled responding and self-determined.  
Academic discourse mistakes
• Lack of logic, e.g.

… Learners strive to achieve specific internal prize, such as

feeling of self-determination or self-improvement. That is why
tasks performed by students are deprived of external rewards
which might influence their intentions.  
Academic discourse mistakes
• Overgeneralisations, e.g.

… this construct is the most misunderstood variable of all.  

My comment: This is an overgeneralisation. What are the other

variables? How and why is it misunderstood? Avoid such statements.
Academic discourse mistakes

Repetitions of the same idea in different

sections of the thesis.
Academic discourse mistakes
• Unclear reference, e.g.

… As Zeidner (1991) suggests, students who are aware of

the fact that they know less will tend to be more anxious,
which, in turn, may result in poor performance. This
results from inadequate knowledge  (Birenbaum &
Nasser, 1994).  
Academic discourse mistakes
• Empty expressions, e.g.

… It may be seen that…

…. It is well known …
… Obviously …
Academic discourse mistakes
• Ineffective style, e.g.

… Given a strong interest to technology use for language

learning, it is important to look at how technology has
been used in language acquisition thus far. 

…When computers are taken into consideration and their

use in the classroom environment, it is important to
outline the roles that they play.
Academic discourse mistakes
• Repetitive use of the same structure, e.g.

… It made a distant learning a reality. The computer

technology has a deep impact on the process of
education. It facilitates acquiring the knowledge
making it more interesting, interactive and innovative.
Its limits are no longer in the classroom.  It affects
one’s learning in an individualised and professional
way. It is used as delivery system or productivity.   
Academic discourse mistakes
• Grammar mistakes, e.g.

… Moreover, some students did  not appreciate the

difficulty of the language learning task  and
consider that two years or less is enough to
become proficient in another language (Horwitz,
1988).
Academic discourse mistakes
• Mistakes in APA, e.g.

… Interest  in communication strategies resulted in many

studies in the 1970s and 1980s , suggesting various classic
classifications (cf. Váradi, 1973; Tarone, 1977, 1981;
Corder, 1978; Ellis, 1985 ).  

My comments: What about the more recent approaches? Have you found
any? You mainly make references to very old research. Try to find more
recent taxonomies! Put the names in the brackets in the alphabetical order.
Task:
Analyse this fragment and find the mistakes
In the nineties of the last century, the book ordering the terminology
associated with the strategies was the book by Ellen Bialystok (1990).
Communication strategies began to be perceived as both sociolinguistic
and psycholinguistic phenomena, which was reflected in the work of
Gabriele Kasper and Eric Kellerman (Communication Strategies ... 1997).
However, only Zoltán Dörnyei and Mary Lee Scott (1997) introduced a
detailed classification of communication strategies, distinguishing as many
as 33 strategies focused on three main groups of strategies: direct
strategies, interactional strategies and indirect strategies referring to the
manner in which a given communication problem can be solved, the
manner in which we maintain communication and generally manage the
communication process.
Thank you!